Psalm 84:4 says, “Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.”
This psalm begins with the word “amiable.” “How amiable are thy tabernacles…” (V.1). The dictionary describes the word “amiable” as an adjective that means having or displaying a friendly, pleasant, and good-natured manner. Does that describe your church home? Do you have a church home? Do you make your church amiable? Not everyone who goes to church is amiable. When we see the church as God’s house, if He is home, it will be amiable. We know that Christ loved the church and died for it (Ephesians 5:25). Never give up on the true church, the blood-bought church, the true house of God. In this series of messages on Psalm 84, I want us to see what God’s house offers.
In verse one the psalmist calls God “…Lord of hosts!” The word hosts means armies. The first thing we see about God’s house is power. It belongs to an all-powerful God in charge of an army greater than any earthly military force. Satan is the most formidable enemy of God’s house. Not to fear! “Greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (I John 4:4). The early church waited until they were indued with power from on high (Luke 24:49).
The psalmist speaks in verse 2 of his soul and heart crying out for God. God’s home is a place for the weary soul to find it’s hungry, fainting soul filled with the living God. No one cheers the heart like Jesus (from the hymn “All That Thrills My Soul,” by Thoro Harris). The presence of God is the answer for the hungry heart. This can result in shouting, crying, or other emotions. Some do not believe that emotions belong in God’s home. When God is home and you are there, your heart will feel it. The heart is emotional. The psalmist said his heart and his flesh cried for the living God.
In verse 3 we see God’s home as a good place to raise our children. The sparrow and the swallow are smart enough to find a safe place to lay their eggs. God’s home is a better place for children than school, sports, or any other worldly attractions. The technical world is out to steal our children. Why do so many children leave the church and go for the world? The answer lies again in verse 3, “…even thine altars….” The altar is where we sign on the bottom line. Entertainment, fun and games, etc. can never keep up with the “fun” the world has to offer. The old-fashioned altar, the place of humble surrender, is where commitments are made that set the course of youth to walk the narrow way, regardless of the broad worldly path. It is a powerful place to get saved from sin. The hardest way is really the easiest way.
Finally in verse 4 we see that people who dwell, or stay, in God’s house, or home, find a wonderful blessing. They are blessed, joyful. There are reasons to leave a church, such as false doctrine, or other things the churches of Revelation were called down over. Christ’s answer was for repentance and change. Go to God’s house. Stay in God’s house. When God is home, it is HOME SWEET HOME!
